MARTIAL ARTS

Aikido / Aikijutsu

This is a dynamic throwing and grappling art. It's a must for any serious practitioner that wants a well rounded set of grappling skills. This specialized set of skills makes up an important part of our grappling program.

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Below is a more detailed description of this system.

Yamanami-ryu Aikijutsu is a modified form of Aikido. Aikido is a dynamic martial art formed in 1942 from older jujutsu and weapon systems. The founder, Morihei Ueshiba started using this name for his art rather than using Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu (the main technical influence on Aikido) because it reflected certain cultural and personal philosophical changes he was going through at the time. The philosophy and practice of Aikido took hold and has become popular through out world. The primary focus of Aikido is one of personal refinement as opposed to the more pragmatic styles of most Jujutsu systems.

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Yamanami-ryu Aikijutsu combines the technical foundations of Aikido and older Jujutsu systems with a pragmatic look into self-protection. While we still teach the art of Aikido to our advanced students, the technical curriculum of Yamanami-ryu Aikijutsu reflects a more realistic self-defense reality in a few major aspects. While it’s difficult to say a certain style or system is more effective as ultimately everything comes down to the individual, Yamanami-ryu Aikijutsu has a primary focus on pragmatic self-defense rather than the philosophical nature of traditional Aikido. It must be mentioned however, that in all the Yamanami-ryu systems, a strong training etiquette is emphasized and considered vital to correct learning and development.

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The founders of this art have deep respect and a long personal history with traditional Aikido. It is from that respect that the Art of Yamanami-ryu Aikijutsu was formed. Rather than changing the art of Aikido, the founders chose to keep those teachings in their pure state out of respect to the founder’s vision of non aggression and to respect the teachings of their own instructors. The founders of this art, Tim Morgan and Jeff Reach, choose instead to create the Yamanami-ryu Aikijutsu system to pair the technical aspects of Aikido with a realistic look at modern self-defense.